About 350 diggers from the Townsville-based 3rd Brigade and 400 from the Brisbane-based 7th Brigade paraded after their deployment in Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province training troops for the fledgling Afghan army.

First Division and Deployable Joint Force Headquarters Commander Major General Stuart Smith said it was an honour to welcome the soldiers home and praised their role in the ‘‘decisive development of the Afghan National Security Forces’’.‘‘On behalf of all Australians, I thank them for their service,’’ he said.

Maj Gen Smith said the deployment had come at a high cost to the battalion.

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Three diggers - Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate - were murdered by a rogue Afghan soldier they were training.

‘‘The thoughts and prayers of all defence personnel are also with these soldiers, their family and friends,’’ Maj Gen Smith said.

The commander of the 3rd Brigade, Brigadier Shane Caughey, commended the families, who he said were often the unsung heroes of any deployment, managing life in Australia so their loved ones could undertake their important and often dangerous jobs.

All Australian troops are to withdraw from forward operating bases in Uruzgan by the end of this year, leaving troops at Tarin Kowt, Kandahar and Kabul.

Australia’s Special Operations Task Group will continue to operate until December 31, 2014.